With less than two weeks until the start of Pacific Kickoff,
DetonatioN FocusMe
DetonatioN FocusMe
Japan
Unranked
Medusa
An Min-cheol (안민철)
neth
Yusuke Matsuda
Meiy
Ibuki Seki
SSeeS
Tomonori Okimura
Anthem
Yoshitaka Enomoto
have made last minute changes, releasing Cho "JoXJo"
Byung-yeon (조병연), Seo "Suggest"
Jae-young (서재영), and Kohei "XrayN"
Shimaki while bringing in An "Medusa"
Min-cheol (안민철),
NorthernLights
, and Moon "Astell"
Ji-won (문지원) as player, coach, and head coach respectively.
Suggest was the one of the oldest active member of DetonatioN FocusMe leading up until his release, having joined in 2021 a month after current coach (then player) Melofovia . Alongside DetonatioN, Suggest saw only two appearances in the 2022 edition of Challengers Japan, before being the only player retained from the old roster as the organization was accepted into the Pacific League, where they finished with a 0-11 record throughout the 2023 season.
XrayN was brought in as a head coach ahead of the 2023 Pacific LCQ, previously known as a former Counter-Strike player and online personality, with DetonatioN FocusMe being his first proper foray into Valorant esports.
JoxJo had only joined DetonatioN in the offseason as part of their rebuild, having played with
FENNEL
FENNEL
Japan
Unranked
TENNN
Tenta Asai
GON
CLZ
SyouTa
Xdll
Yuto Mizomori
throughout the 2023 Challengers Japan season, missing out on their opportunity of qualifying to Ascension after losing to eventual victors
SCARZ
SCARZ
Japan
Unranked
MrTenzouEz
Lumo
Maxim Demianovskikh
tixx
Nick Quinn
Yotaa
Yota Kaouachi
Yoshiii
John Yoshiharu Kawakami
in Split 2 Playoffs.
The rebuild roster only participated in one offseason event, Riot Games One where they fell 0-3 against the likes of
Natus Vincere
Natus Vincere
Europe
Unranked
ANGE1
Kyrylo Karasov
Shao
Andrey Kiprsky
Zyppan
Pontus Eek
SUYGETSU
Dmitry Ilyushin
ardiis
Ardis Svarenieks
,
ZETA DIVISION
ZETA DIVISION
Japan
Unranked
Laz
Ushida Koji
yuran
Yushin Hato
hiroronn
Hiroki Yanai
Dep
Yuma Hashimoto
SugarZ3ro
Shota Watanabe
, and
BLEED
BLEED
Asia-Pacific
Unranked
sScary
Nutchapon Matarat
Zest
Kim Ki-seok (김기석)
Retla
Jorell Teo
Deryeon
Derrick Yee
crazyguy
Ngô Công Anh
.
Medusa looks to bring the Raccoons back to victory under a different banner. (Photo: Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)
The addition of Medusa, Astell, and NorthernLights also mark the reunification of the 2023
Crazy Raccoon
Crazy Raccoon
Inactive
core after Yusuke "neth"
Matsuda, Ibuki "Meiy"
Seki, and Souta "popogachi"
Morita joined earlier in November as part of the rebuild. Throughout 2023, Crazy Raccoon maintained their presence as one of Japan's top Challengers teams, but eventually missing out on Ascension after a loss to FENNEL in the Split 2 Playoffs.
Revitalized for Kickoff,
DetonatioN FocusMe
DetonatioN FocusMe
Japan
Unranked
Medusa
An Min-cheol (안민철)
neth
Yusuke Matsuda
Meiy
Ibuki Seki
SSeeS
Tomonori Okimura
Anthem
Yoshitaka Enomoto
is now: